Celtic, Rangers and Hearts hijack World Cup with wild week back home - but key players are in America

A 2025/26 campaign of excitement, drama and controversy is spilling into the close season. In the week leading up to Scotland’s first match at a World Cup for 28 years, Celtic appointed Martin O’Neill as manager, their interim chairman Brian Wilson hit out at an “absurd” narrative surrounding his club and then the news broke that Rangers head coach Danny Rohl is wanted by RB Salzburg.

Rohl is now on the brink of leaving for Austria – and Hearts boss Derek McInnes is lined up to replace him at Ibrox.

On any other week, these stories would hog the splash on the back page. They have been reduced to wings at best while the country goes World Cup-daft for the next fortnight – and possibly longer.

Regardless of Scotland’s progress, the Rohl situation has wide-ranging ramifications for two of Scotland’s biggest clubs ahead of the upcoming season.

Rangers only appointed Rohl back in October and the 37-year-old German resurrected the team’s title hopes. They became hard to beat and were in contention until the split, before losing four games in a row. Such is the reactionary and impatient nature of being at the Old Firm, some fans called for Rohl’s head. However, chairman Andrew Cavenagh emphatically backed him last month, stating that Rohl is the man to lead them forward.

Rohl was linked with Wolfsburg last month in his homeland but those rumours petered out. The interest from Salzburg became far more concrete. They are big admirers of the ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss, who worked for their parent company Red Bull while at Leipzig. Compensation talks are almost complete.

Salzburg finished third in the Austrian Bundesliga and after missing out on the Champions League, they are throwing money at a rebuild. Club chiefs, including Red Bull’s head of global soccer Jurgen Klopp, quickly settled on Rohl.

Why move makes sense for Rohl

Rohl has a contract with Rangers until the summer of 2028 and Cavenagh was planning his own summer restoration project with the German at the heart of matters. He and his fellow directors want a swift resolution and asked Salzburg for a seven-figure sum to poach their manager.

A respectful individual, club sources say Rohl is not agitating to move out of Rangers. But you can see why the switch to Salzburg would make sense for him, given his wife and children remain in Germany. It is a whole lot easier for him to visit them while in Austria in comparison to Scotland.

Rohl is also acutely aware of the fast-moving landscape in Glasgow. The manager will be backed in the transfer window – Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland has already been procured – but should the season start poorly, the knives will be out from the stands, and potentially the boardroom.

There will be a section of the Rangers support who see this as a convenient parting of ways for both parties. Rohl’s Rangers side lacked the maturity last season to kick on when it really mattered. That flagged up warning signs for onlookers. Others – rightly – believe the German needs a full pre-season to instil his methods. It is why everyone wants a quick conclusion to the Salzburg approach. A lot of work is needed at Rangers before the season starts.

Rohl’s stock has always remained high on the continent. He is regarded as an up-and-coming coach. The Ibrox hierarchy have had contingency plans for when he leaves and have activated them with McInnes.

Hearts were a whisker away from winning the Premiership title, pipped by Celtic at the very last minute, and they ran away from Rangers when it really mattered. McInnes’ work in Gorgie has not gone unnoticed by those in power at Rangers.

Jim Gillespie joined the Ibrox board this year as chief executive and from his time at St Mirren will be well aware of McInnes’ credentials. There is a growing feeling within the hierarchy that McInnes, at the peak of his career at 54 years old, may be the best man to replace Rohl. Rangers also desire a strong domestic core by installing the best staff Scotland has to offer.

We have been here before with McInnes and Rangers, back in 2017 when he was in charge of Aberdeen. He turned down the job then but he appears ready to return to a club where he was a player for five years.

Hearts have been the most active of the three title principals since the season ended, signing four players. More will follow. They are tooling up for another crack at the Glasgow duopoly and have Champions League qualifiers to prepare for next month. This is not a welcome approach for McInnes, but one Hearts will reluctantly sanction.

In a twist of irony, McInnes, Cavenagh, Gillespie and Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay were all in Boston over the weekend for Scotland v Haiti. That should make it all a bit easier. Compensation for McInnes would cost Rangers around the £700,000 mark – far less than what Salzburg are paying for Rohl.

Rangers have already pillaged Gorgie in recent weeks, luring Shankland to Ibrox after activating a break clause in his contract and landing him for very little. Taking McInnes would land another savage blow on one of their rivals and serve as a reminder of the current pecking order.

Hearts, with Jamestown Analytics in their corner, already have names ready to consider to replace McInnes. With their Champions League qualifiers in mid-July and the squad returning for pre-season on June 23, they won’t hang around either.

Time is of the essence for all concerned. The Scottish football domestic soap opera refuses to die down and this is another dramatic and gripping episode.